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4.02.2012

stealing from wal*mart

In my 22 years on this terrestrial ball, I have formed my opinions on child raising. Whether you want to hear them or not, you are sure to catch pieces of them as we make this journey.

I love well made toys. Old fashioned toys {from back when things were made to last} and wooden toys are my favorite. Both my husband and I like toys that you build with; toys that encourage your imagination to create new worlds {legos and lincoln logs}. Legos are a little bit much for baby fingers, though. First they have to master the art of stacking, and other fine motor skills.

Enter Wal*Mart. Some people are die hard Wal*Mart fans. I don't even like Wal*Mart, but just like everyone else, I have to go there occasionally. On one such "had to go there" trip, I forced Matthew to walk the toy aisles with me {with zero intent of buying anything}. I just wanted to look through what kids were into and talk to Matthew about what kinds of toys would be his first pick. It turned out to be a fateful trip when we happened upon a beautiful wooden toy.

The toy stood about eight inches tall and I began with, "Aw, Caroline has this toy! She loves stacking the rings as she says her colors and..." I stopped short.

The tag on the shelf said $1.50.

I would easily have paid $2 for this toy second hand. It was the last one. Before we grabbed it, we checked to make sure it was labeled correctly. The tag read, "Multi-Colored Stacking Rings". I was sold.

It didn't go off without a hitch though. When we first scanned our find, it rang up as $5. Instead of saying, "Oh well, we'll pay $5 for it." Or even, "Never mind, we won't get it." We ran back to the toy section, snatched the price from it's pretty little spot, and talked to three different people before we paid our $1.50 and left with another toy for our kiddos. Honestly, even after sorting out the price with several different employees, I still felt like I was robbing them.

The moral of the story is that sometimes, you can find a good deal when you weren't expecting it. So be sure to keep your eyes open!